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Letting Jesus Out

Pope Francis in Washington, DC, September, 2015

It’s reported that the movement to elect Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio pope grew in intensity after he made some off-the-cuff remarks about evangelization at a pre-conclave gathering. He later wrote some notes to reconstruct what he said, and authorized a friend to release them. You can read all about it here. This passage especially stuck me:

The evils that, in the passing of time, afflict the ecclesiastical institutions have a root in self-referentiality, in a sort of theological narcissism. In Revelation, Jesus says that he is standing at the threshold and calling. Evidently the text refers to the fact that he stands outside the door and knocks to enter. . . But at times I think that Jesus may be knocking from the inside, that we may let him out. The self-referential Church presumes to keep Jesus Christ within itself and not let him out.

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